New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the government is set to introduce a vehicle scrappage policy, under which recycling clusters may be established near ports, expressing confidence that India will emerge as the world’s leading automobile manufacturing hub in five years.

“Now, we are going to start the new scrapping policy, by which old cars, trucks and buses will be scrapped,” the Minister of MSME and Road Transport and Highways said.

He said the government has decided to increase the depth of the country’s ports by 18 metres, and automobile clusters comprising recycling plants can be set up near the ports.

The minister added that the material recycled will be useful for the automobile industry as it will reduce cost of manufacturing cars, buses, and trucks, increasing India’s competitiveness in international markets.

“Within five years, India will be the number one manufacturing hub of all cars, buses and trucks, with all fuel, ethanol, methanol, bio-CNG, LNG, electric as well as hydrogen fuel cells,” Gadkari said.

He was addressing a meeting via video conferencing with the representatives of MIT ADT University on future of higher education.

Experts said the draft guidelines for setting up authorised vehicle scrappage facilities that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) released in October 2019 was seen as a step in the right direction but a lot of work was yet to be done. The guidelines detailed the infrastructure requirement and the procedure for setting up vehicle scrappage facilities in the country, streamlining the process for entities interested in entering this business.